Walking in North Yorkshire

Kildale to Baysdale and its Lost Abbey

9.5 miles Warm and breezy

We parked at the side of the road in Kildale village, booted up and set off towards Little Kildale.

Today's walk from The Walker's Guide to the Cleveland Hills

Houses in Kildale

Plaque above door says 1836

Old bus shelter has been converted for village use

Tom Scott Burns informs us that Kildale is a village of great antiquity. There are several 'Kildals' in Norway and the village was probably named by the Vikings. It was called Childale in the Domesday Book. In 1156, where the church now stands, was a wooden castle built by the Percys, Earls of Northumberland. Walking through the village we turned off the road into Green Gate Lane and climbed towards Little Kildale. Reaching the hamlet we continued along our lane through Little Kildale Wood, eventually reaching Warren Farm where we turned right towards the open moor.

Turn into Green Gate Lane

Little Kildale in the distance

Racing pigeon weather vane in Little Kildale

Walking alongside Little Kildale Wood

We reach Warren Farm

A lot of these silver pheasants here

Passing by the farm

Warren Farm

Following our path past Warren Farm we came to a large square chimney as we descended to Leven Vale. This is the remains of an ironstone mine that was operational between 1866 and 1874. Time and effort have been given to making this a site of interest so we stopped to look around. Sadly the long grass and lack of evidence of any visitors makes us suspect that its isolated location is preventing it being visited for educational purposes.

Warren Moor Mine chimney

We go in for a look around

Foundations of pump engine house

Leaving the old mine site we crossed the source of the River Leven to start a climb up through meadows towards Kildale Moor.

Source of the River Leven

Looking back to the mine and Warren Farm

We reach the moor

On Kildale Moor

We now climbed steadily to Kildale Moor and having reached the top at 900 feet, we descended towards Baysdale Beck, soon reaching the remains of an old barn where the path turns sharp left.

Descending from Kildale Moor

Turn left at the old barn

... and follow a nice path east

The track, which runs parallel to Baysdale Beck, is an old lime road that enabled limestone to be carried from Commondale into Cleveland, and we followed this for 1.5 miles until we reached a tarmac road.

We turned right onto the tarmac road and walked steeply downhill to pretty Hob Hole and its water-splash. Here we found a comfortable grassy bank to sit and enjoy our coffee and scones.

Piles of stone towards the end of the path, is the path to be paved?

Walking down to Hob Hole

New bridge at Hob Hole

Coffee at Hob Hole

Hob Hole was supposed to be the haunt of a mischievous hobgoblin who taunted weary travellers and TSB reports a Canon Atkinson speaking of Padfoot, "Padfoot, a precursor of death; sometimes visible, sometimes invisible, but ever and anon padding lightly in the rear of people, then again before them or at their side, and uttering a roar unlike the voice of any known animal."

Coffee over we crossed the new bridge and made our way uphill. After half a mile or so we turned left into John Breckon Road. As we walked along this narrow road we had views left down towards Westerdale. After another half mile on tarmac we came to a green metal footpath sign and turned right onto the moor.

Over the bridge and up the hill

Westerdale below, from John Breckon Road

Turn right onto the moor at the green signpost

We followed narrow heather tracks for a couple of miles with Baysdale Beck down to our right, and suddenly spotted an adder in front of us. He made straight for the heather and soon disappeared but not before I got a photo of him.

We thought a lot of the moor was in poor shape - see later in text

Adder moving fast on our path

Very little cotton grass compared with other years

We passed a cairn memorial to Alan Clegg, 'Who loved these moors'. Just past this cairn we came to Great Hograh Beck where there is a small stone footbridge and a wooden memorial seat.

Great Hograh Beck

Bridge dated 1938, built by Rowland Close, of nearby Low House Farm.

After the bridge we turned right onto a wide track and followed the path across the moor. Here within a couple of hundred yards we saw two common lizards, one very much alive and one dead.

Common lizard

We walked downhill and passed by the above mentioned Low House Farm and as we descended towards Baysdale Beck we met the game keeper, who chatted for a while, telling us a few things of interest.

Low House Farm

Interesting chat with keeper

He asked us if we had noticed that there were areas where the heather is in a bad condition. We said we had and he explained that the moor was having a major problem with heather beetle. Normally controlled by heather burning new regulations were preventing this and the beetles have become a serious problem. He asked if we had seen any grouse, we said we had only seen one on the whole walk and he said that the grouse population has been struggling for the last five years. The grouse feed on heather shoots which grow after burning and unfortunately they don't eat the heather beetles. He explained how a managed moor benefits all creatures, for instance raptors do better on a managed moor than one that's left wild. A wild moor won't have grouse that the raptor feeds on and whereas grouse are up and running as soon as they are hatched, making them difficult prey, raptor chicks sit in the nest and are easy prey for foxes, stoats and other raptors. He was quite passionate about the subject and interesting to talk to.

We passed through Thorntree House Farm before reaching the Abbey which we bypassed, walking to the north of the building.

Cock and hen at Abbey farm

Bat box

Baysdale Abbey

Crossing the old abbey bridge

The old bridge was part of the original abbey

The original abbey was occupied by 9 or 10 nuns from 1190 to 1539. TSB tells how in 1304 Prioress Joan de Percy had not adhered to the monastic rules and Archbishop Corbridge had to commit the custody of the nuns of Baysdale to Roger de Kellshay, rector of Crathorne. By 1307 Joan remained disobedient and was deprived of her post. She absconded from the abbey with some other nuns and Archbishop Grenfield ordered them back to the abbey "that they return without delay and not go outside the precincts of the abbey and serve God under the yoke of obedience..." . Records show that in fact Joan did return to Baysdale as a simple nun after doing a year's penance at the appropriately named Sinningthwaite.

We walked away from the buildings and crossed a quaint stone bridge which is apparently the only substantial remnant of the original abbey. Crossing the bridge we followed the road to a footpath sign where we turned right to climb steeply through fields, all the way to the dale top, at a height of 1050 feet, where we paused to admire the view back to the abbey and collect our breath. This is using the short cut shown on the map above as dotted line opposite Baysdale Farm.

Looking back at the abbey as we climb

A long hard climb at this stage of the walk

We joined a tarmac road and turned right to follow it, crossing the cattle grid. After a few minutes walking on this road we saw a stone memorial to the crew of a second world war plane that crashed on Kildale Moor; sadly the crew died from exposure before they could be rescued.